N.M. Stat. § 63-2-2
Additional powers.
In addition to those powers enumerated in Section 63-2-1 NMSA 1978, every
railroad corporation shall have the following powers:
A. to cause such examinations and surveys to be made as may be necessary to the
selection of the most suitable routes for its railroad and telegraph lines, and for that
purpose, by its officers and agents, to enter upon the lands and waters of the state, of
private persons and of private and public corporations, subject, however, to
responsibility for all damages that it may do thereto;
B. to take, hold and convey, by deed or otherwise, the same as a natural person,
such voluntary grants and donations of real and personal property as may be made to
aid the construction and maintenance and to provide for the accommodation of its
railroad and telegraph lines, or either thereof;
C. to purchase and, by voluntary grants and donations, to receive and take and, by
its officers, engineers, surveyors and agents, to enter upon, possess, hold and use in
any manner it may deem proper all such lands and other property as its directors may
deem necessary, proper and convenient for the construction, maintenance and
operation of its railroad and telegraph lines, or either thereof, and for the erection of
stations, depots, water tanks, side tracks, turnouts, turntables, yards, workshops,
warehouses and for all other purposes necessary or convenient to the corporation in the
transaction of its business;
D. to lay out its railroad and branches, not exceeding two hundred feet wide, and to
construct and maintain the same, with single or double track, with such appendages as
its directors may deem necessary for the convenient use thereof. For the purpose of
making embankments, excavations, ditches, drains, culverts and the like and of
procuring timber, stone, gravel and other materials for the proper construction and
security of its railroad and branches, the corporation may take and occupy as much
more land as its directors may deem necessary or convenient for the purposes
aforesaid;
E. to construct its railroads and telegraphs across, along or upon any stream of
water, water course, street, avenue or highway or across any railway, canal, ditch or
flume that its railroad and telegraph, or either thereof, shall intersect, cross or run along;
but the corporation shall restore such stream, water courses, streets, avenues,
highways, railways, canals, ditches and flumes, so intersected, to their former state, as
near as may be, so as not to unnecessarily impair their use or injure their franchises.
Wherever its road crosses a navigable stream or body of water, the bridge shall be
constructed with a draw, if a draw is necessary, to avoid obstructing the navigation of
such stream or body of water;
F. to cross, intersect, join and unite its railroad with any other railroads that have
been constructed or that may be constructed at any point on the routes thereof, and
upon the grounds of such other railroad companies, with the necessary turnouts, sidings
and switches and such other conveniences and appliances as may be necessary to
make and complete the crossings, intersections and connections. Such other railroad
companies shall unite with the directors of the corporation in making the crossings,
intersections and connections and shall grant the facilities therefor upon such terms and
conditions as may be agreed upon between them; but if they are unable to agree upon
the compensation to be made therefor or the points at which or the manner in which
such crossings, intersections and connections shall be made, the same shall be
ascertained, determined and declared in the manner and by the proceedings hereinafter
provided for the taking of private property for the use of the corporation;
G. to purchase or take by donation or otherwise, land, timber, stone, gravel or other
materials to be used in the construction and maintenance of its railroads and
telegraphs, or either thereof, and if the same cannot be obtained by agreement with the
owners thereof, to take the same by the proceedings and in the manner hereinafter
provided for the taking of private property for the use of the corporation;
H. to take, transport, carry and convey persons and property on its railroads by the
force and power of steam, of animals or any other mechanical power, or by any
combination thereof, and to collect and receive tolls or compensation therefor;
I. to erect and maintain all necessary and convenient buildings, stations, depots,
watering places, fixtures and machinery for the accommodation of its passengers,
freight and business and to obtain and hold, by purchase, donation or condemnation as
hereinafter provided, lands and other property necessary therefor;
J. to take, possess and enjoy, by purchase, donation or condemnation, such natural
springs and streams of water, or so much thereof as may be necessary for its uses and
purposes in operating its railroad, together with the right of way thereto for pipes,
ditches, canals or aqueducts for the conveyance thereof;
K. to regulate the time and manner in which passengers and property shall be
transported over its roads and the tolls or compensation to be paid therefor; provided
that it shall be unlawful for such corporation to charge more than six cents ($.06) per
mile for each passenger and fifteen cents ($.15) per mile for each ton of two thousand
pounds, or forty cubic feet, of freight transported on its roads; provided, further, that in
no case shall such corporation be required to receive less than twenty-five cents ($.25)
for any one lot of freight for any distance; provided, further, that such corporation shall
not be required to transport domestic animals, nitroglycerine compounds, gunpowder,
acids, phosphorous and other explosive or destructive combustible materials except
upon such terms, conditions and rates of freightage as its board of directors may from
time to time prescribe and establish;
L. to regulate the force and speed of its locomotives, cars, trains or other machinery
used on its roads and to establish, execute and enforce all needful and proper rules and
regulations for the management of its trains, the conduct of its business and to secure
the safety, comfort and good behavior of its passengers and employees and agents and
for the prevention and suppression of gambling of every kind and description on its cars
or within its depots or station grounds;
M. to expel from its cars at any stopping place, using no more force than may be
necessary, any passenger who, upon demand, refuses to pay the passenger's fare or
behaves in a rude, riotous or disorderly manner toward other passengers or the
employees of such corporations in charge of such cars or, upon the passenger's
attention being called thereto, persists in violating the rules of the corporation against
gambling upon its cars;
N. to borrow on the credit of the corporation and under authority of its board of
directors or in such manner as the board may prescribe under regulation, resolution or
otherwise such sums of money as may be necessary for constructing and equipping its
railroad and telegraph lines or for making extensions or additions thereto or betterments
or improvements thereof or for funding or refunding its outstanding indebtedness or
retiring its obligations and for such other purposes as may be deemed proper in the
conduct of its business or in the execution of its powers and to issue and dispose of its
bonds and promissory notes or obligations therefor in denominations of not less than
one hundred dollars ($100) or any multiple thereof and at a rate of interest not
exceeding ten percent per year and for such amounts as the board of directors may
deem proper, although in excess of its capital stock. To secure the payment of such
bonds, notes or obligations or the bonds or obligations of any other corporation that may
be issued in its interest, or for any of the above purposes or to raise funds therefor, it
may mortgage or convey in trust its corporate property or any part thereof and the
rights, privileges, powers and franchises in connection therewith or appurtenant thereto;
O. to grant to any railroad corporation the right to use in common with it its railroad
and telegraph lines or any part thereof. In making such grants and in agreeing upon and
prescribing the terms and conditions thereof and the amount and nature of the
consideration therefor, such corporation shall have all the rights, powers, capacities and
abilities that are enjoyed by natural persons;
P. to take grants of the right to use in common railroad and telegraph lines of other
railroad corporations and, in taking and receiving such grants, to have and enjoy the
same rights, powers, capacities and abilities that are granted in Subsection O of this
section;
Q. to change the line of its road, in whole or in part, whenever a majority of its
directors may so determine; provided no such change shall vary the general route of
such road as described in its articles of incorporation. The land required for such new
line may be acquired by contract with the owners thereof or by condemnation, as
provided by law, as in the case of the original line;
R. to increase or diminish its capital stock if at any time it appears that the amount
thereof, as fixed in its articles of incorporation, is either more or less than is actually
required for constructing, equipping, operating and maintaining its road and telegraph
lines. Such increase or decrease shall not be made except by a vote of stockholders
representing at least two-thirds of the subscribed capital stock. A certified copy of the
proceedings of the meeting and its action in the premises, under the seal of the
corporation, shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state and be, by the secretary
of state, attached to the articles of incorporation on file in the secretary of state's office;
and
S. to consolidate with one or more railroad corporations or under the laws of any
other state or territory, its capital stock, properties, roads, equipments, adjuncts,
franchises, claims, demands, contracts, agreements, obligations, debts, liabilities and
assets of every kind and description upon such terms and in such manner as may be
agreed upon by the respective boards of directors; provided no such consolidation shall
take effect until it has been ratified and confirmed in writing by stockholders of the
respective corporations representing three-fourths of the subscribed capital stock of
their respective corporations. In case of such consolidation, articles of incorporation and
consolidation shall be prepared setting forth:
(1)
the name of the new corporation;
(2)
the purpose for which it is formed;
(3)
the place where its principal business is to be transacted;
(4)
the term for which it is to exist, which shall not exceed fifty years;
(5)
the number of its directors, which shall not be less than five nor more than
eleven, and the names and residences of the persons appointed to act as such until
their successors are elected and qualified;
(6)
the amount of its capital stock, which shall not exceed the amount actually
required for the purposes of the new corporation, as estimated by competent engineers,
and the number of shares into which it is divided;
(7)
the amount of stock actually subscribed and by whom;
(8)
the termini of its road and branches;
(9)
the estimated length of its road and branches;
(10)
that at least ten percent of its subscribed capital stock has been paid in;
(11)
the names of the constituent corporations and the terms and conditions of
consolidation in full. The articles of incorporation and consolidation shall be signed and
countersigned by the presidents and secretaries of the several constituent corporations
and sealed with their corporate seals. There shall be annexed thereto memoranda of
the ratification and confirmation thereof by the stockholders of each constituent
corporation, which must be respectively signed by stockholders representing at least
three-fourths of the capital stock of their respective corporations. When completed, the
articles shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state, and thereupon the constituent
corporations named therein must be deemed and held to have become extinct in all
courts and places and the new corporation shall be deemed and held in all courts and
places to have succeeded to all their several capital stocks, properties, roads,
equipments, adjuncts, franchises, claims, demands, contracts, agreements, assets,
choses and rights in action, of every kind and description, both at law and in equity, and
to be entitled to possess, enjoy and enforce the same and every thereof, as fully and
completely as either and every of its constituents might have done had no consolidation
taken place. The consolidated or new corporation shall also, in all courts and places, be
deemed and held to have become subrogated to its several constituents and each
thereof in respect to all their contracts and agreements with other parties and all their
debts, obligations and liabilities of every kind and nature to any persons, corporations or
bodies politic. The new corporation shall sue and be sued in its own name in any and
every case in which any or either of its constituents might have sued or might have
been sued, at law or in equity, had no such consolidation been made. Such
consolidated or new corporation shall possess, enjoy and exercise all its franchises,
properties, powers, privileges, abilities, rights and immunities under the provisions of
this chapter, and shall conduct its business according to its provisions and be subject to
all its pains and penalties. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to impair the
obligation of any contract to which any of such constituents were parties at the date of
consolidation. All such contracts may be enforced by action or suit, as the case may be,
against the consolidated corporation and satisfaction obtained out of the property that,
at the date of the consolidation, belonged to the constituent, that was a party to the
contract in action or suit, as well as out of any other property belonging to the
consolidated corporation; and
(12)
every railroad corporation, in addition to the foregoing, shall have such
further powers as may be necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise and enjoy,
fully and completely, all the powers granted by this chapter and, generally all such
powers as are usually conferred upon, required and exercised by railroad corporations
and, in the exercise of its powers and every thereof, shall have and enjoy all the rights,
privileges, abilities and capacities that are enjoyed by natural persons.